Anger, Vegans and Diabetes at the White House Gate

In Lafayette Park, hundreds of anti-war protesters gathered to wait for the day's speeches, the early arriving crowd for a noon rally to be followed by a 1:30 p.m. march on the Capitol.

On a glorious Saturday, there was a festival atmosphere, with Marvin Gaye blaring on the loudspeakers, socialist worker party activists sellng books, street guys hawking $15-dollar T-shirts and a fleet of vegans handing out "Why Vegan" pamphlets.

At the fence facing the White House, a clot of protestors chatted with a uniformed secret service officer on motorcyle, "I'm just glad people give a [expletive]," the officer told the protestors. "We just hope there are no scary people. We don't like scary people, regardless of which side they're on."

The discussion somehow veered toward what the officer and two of the protesters had in common: Diabetes.